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Columbia Sportswear Company

Students Name

Institution

Course Name

Instructor

Date
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INTRODUCTION

Columbia Sportswear Company was started in 1938 in Portland, Oregon, and has since

expanded, becoming the leading brand in the development, sourcing, advertising, and selling

of outdoors, athletic, and footwear, clothes, equipment, and accessories.

Purpose statement: Columbia Sportswear is a firm that creates and distributes the best quality,

genuine outdoor items for all people.

Linking energetic people with their desires is the mission statement.

The group's fundamental principles are living an active life, constant development, competing

to win, and doing the right thing for customers, clients, workers, the business, and society.

Strategic goals: the company is focused on achieving long-term, profitable growth. Their

strong financial position allows them to invest in their strategic priorities, including

enhancing client satisfaction and digital strategy across all channels and geographic regions;

Improving and increasing global direct-to-consumer sales ("DTC").

II. Marketing

Brands and Products

Columbia Sports Wear has four well-known brands that create, manufacture, promote, and

distribute everyday lifestyle garments to meet the various needs of its clients and consumers.

They sell women's, men's, and children's outdoor clothes, footwear, and accessories for

activities including hiking, hunting, skiing, mountaineering, water sports, camping, fishing,

and adventure travel, among others. Lightweight sandals, shoes, and clothing are among the

products they manufacture and distribute (Team, M. 2022). They also specialize in producing

footwear and apparel for harsh weather situations. Some of the brands available are

Columbia, Sorel, Montrail, and Mountain Hardwear.

Pricing strategy
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Columbia Sportswear aims to give people high-quality, long-lasting items at a reasonable

price. Its marketing strategy uses a value pricing approach, meaning that it strives to balance

both the value of the goods and the price it offers (Team, M. 2022). Columbia Apparel

focuses on obtaining good quality material and applies a standardized price to all products

depending on similar items' price range. Columbia Sportswear also provides a 40-60%

discount on several of its merchandise, a welcome surprise for customers.

Target market

One of the business's target markets is the athletic, outdoors customer. Columbia Apparel has

excellent quality goods for folks who spend a lot of their spare time outdoors. The target

population is active, middle-aged, educated persons with sufficient cash to spend on outdoor

sports. They also cater to those customers who value quality at a lower price.

Distribution

Columbia Sportswear, based in Portland, sells its products in North America and over 90

other nations around the world. It produces most of its revenues in the United States,

accounting for 65 percent, 20 percent in Latin America and the Asia-Pacific area, 10 percent

in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and the remaining 5% in Canada (Team, M. 2022). The

corporation always has aimed to broaden its global reach around the world. It works with

distributors in several countries to provide large chain stores, sporting goods, and retailers.

Individual clients are served by Columbia Sportswear's domestic and international retail

stores channels, as well as its official internet presence. The company periodically

collaborates with companies developing a new product category to widen its geographic

reach and reduce its dependency on exclusively cold-weather products.

Promotion
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Columbia Sportswear uses various methods to promote and sell its products, including

newspaper, online advertising, television, and social networking sites. An American rapper

known as Macklemore appears in one of its advertisements, advertising their OutDry ECO

Jacket, which is entirely made of recyclable plastic (totaling 21 plastic bottles) and saves

approximately 13 gallons of water for each jacket (Team, M. 2022). This product contributes

to the brand's image as environmentally sensitive. Other brand ambassadors that have worked

with Columbia sportswear are Dylan and Zac Efron. Columbia Sportswear also markets its

brand through sponsoring events and operating branded retail stores in high-traffic areas.

Another way to reach out to football fans is through the Columbia and Manchester United

Sportswear Collection.

III. Management

Planning – SWOT Analysis

Strengths

The following are Columbia Sportswear's SWOT Analysis strengths:

1. A long and illustrious history over seven decades, claiming to be the most prominent

American ski apparel company (Fern, 2022).

2. The brand's one-of-a-kind digital marketing strategy for each sports outfit has proven to be

a success.

3. The brand is sold in over 13000 stores in more than 72 countries.

4. The brand owns all aspects of the manufacturing process, preserving economies of scale.

weaknesses

The following are the Columbia Sportswear SWOT Analysis's flaws:

1. Outside of theU.S, the company is not as known as its competitors.

2. Compared with its competitors, who are worldwide experts in the industry, the brand has

not advertised (Fern, 2022).

Opportunities

The Opportunities in Columbia Sportswear's SWOT Analysis are as follows:

1. To establish itself as a powerful brand, the corporation can begin independent retail

operations in a few nations (Fern, 2022).

2. To increase brand visibility, the brand can start e-retailing certain items in multiple nations.

3. Increase global reach through strategic alliances.

Threats

Columbia Sportswear's SWOT Analysis identifies the following threats:

1. In the clothes and accessories sector, there is a high amount of fragmentation, which leads

to lower client loyalty.

2. Fake goods, which sell for a fraction of the price of original products, are a threat to the

brand.

3. Outside of the United States, the brand confronts an identity crisis, implying that brand

development will take longer.

Analysis

Columbia Sportswear has made an effort to stay on the cutting edge of technology. This will

help the company expand internationally while also distinguishing them from a slew of

competition. This firm has also bought former competitors. They can use this subsidiary to

improve their brand and competing against other companies. Counterfeit products are one

important hazard that Columbia Sportswear must be aware of. Columbia outsources a lot of

work, which has the advantage of lowering prices but also the disadvantage of putting too
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much reliance on outside vendors. Due to short-term contracts and the goals of foreign

governments, this also increases the possibility of lower-quality counterfeits.

B. Directing – Business Strategy

Product Goals: Continue to give Columbia customers the high-quality products they expect

at a fair price.

Customers can choose from other market segments for specific age groups, as well as "good,"

"better," and "best" product lines.

Product Development: Raise brand awareness by associating it with Columbia's long-

standing reputation for quality.

Create brand awareness across all Columbia subsidiaries to accomplish the objective of

supplying "good," "better," and "best" market segments essential to compete throughout all

parts of the outdoor clothing and accessories sectors.

Place Objectives:

Raise stock at shops and branded commercial enterprises, particularly in areas where the

lengthy winters persist.

Include all products from across all subsidiaries at all outlet stores and branded retail

locations to meet the demands of all consumer demographics.

Columbia intends to expand by building more outlet shops and rebranded retail stores in the

coming year. All distribution channels across all Columbia-owned and operated businesses

should be consolidated. As a result, every distribution element will see all of their production

lines. Connect sites so that customers can explore and search for all of their products in one

place.

Promotion Objective:
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The promotion goal is that the Columbian products will continue to remain dominant in the

"good" and "better" markets while pushing "best" through subsidiaries and affiliates.

Consolidate the concepts of "good, better, and best" throughout all business lines.

Promotion Strategies:

Advertising: Increase the visibility of Tim Boyle and Gert as the "one tough pair" in putting

a range of Columbia apparel to the test in the quest of outdoor pursuits. Begin new efforts

with younger children and teenagers, emphasizing the importance of the quality of the

equipment they use as they mature into adults. Create comparable advertisements for the

subsidiaries and affiliates, emphasizing why their superior equipment.

Social Media: Assign the task of ensuring optimal exposure across all social media platforms

to an entire team. Use workers available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to watch all sites

and respond to real-time questions from actual people on all social media pages.

Sales Promotion: Provide university scholarships to the top 50 students worldwide who

create quality advertising video promote any of Columbia's products.

Pricing Objectives: Maintain Columbia product pricing in the "good and better" market,

compelling competitors to improve the quality of their products or leave the market. To stay

competitive while maintaining profitability, increase pricing analysis in the "best" market.

In the whole of Columbia's enterprises and subsidiaries, look for methods to minimize costs

in all aspects of the manufacturing process and distribution routes. This would ensure that

prices remain competitive while allowing customers to purchase Columbian-branded

merchandise or those of its business associates.

.C. Controlling – Evaluation

In 2021, the net sales were $3,126,402, which is an improvement from $2501,554 in 2020

(COLM. 2022). The gross profit was 1,515,670 in 2019 but in 2020 due to Covid 19 the gross

profit decreased to 1,223,889 in 2020 and increased to 1,612,455 in 2021 (Macrotrends.

2022).

Calculation of liquidity ratios

current Assets
Current ratio=
current Liabilities

$ 2,836,571
Current ratio 2020=
$ 1,003,800
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¿ 2.8258

$ 3,067,128
Current ratio 2021=
$ 1,077,876

¿ 2.8 455

Debt to equity ratio

Total liabilities
Debt ¿ equity ratio=
total shareholders equity

$ 1,003,800
Debt ¿ equity ratio 2020=
$ 1 , 989,252

¿ 0.5477

$ 1,0 77,876
Debt ¿ equity ratio 2021=
$ 1,832,771

¿ 0.5 881

Gross profit ratio

Gross profit
Gross profit ratio=
total net sales

$ 1,515,670
Gross profit ratio 2019=
$ 3,042,478

¿ 0.4982
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$ 1,223,889
Gross profit ratio 2020=
$ 2,501,554

¿ 0.4893

$ 1,612,455
Gross profit ratio 2021=
$ 3,126,402

¿ 0.5158

Figure 1 gross profit ratio

D. Staffing

Columbia footwear uses its website for advertising for jobs. It also uses some job

advertisement platforms for advertising for job openings in the company. Also, employee

referrals may be used.

IV. Future

Sportswear company Columbia has further cemented its commitment to sustainability. Its

2020 Corporate Responsibility report outlined its four leading brands' critical social and

environmental successes.
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V. Summary of the information about the business, including your opinion. Do you

think this is or can be a successful business?

Columbia sportswear company is a brand that has produced outdoor gear since 1938.

Columbia Sportswear is a company that creates, produces, sells, and delivers a wide variety

of quality products that range from pieces of equipment and shoes to outdoor clothes and

sportswear, all aimed at the nature lover. Columbia has remained faithful to its corporate

responsibility approach during its evolution from a modest hat maker in Portland to a

worldwide firm with operations on four continents. Columbia's ad campaigns often highlight

the organization's commitment to product endurance and excellence. It has very friendly

prices and uses very environmentally friendly raw materials, including recycled materials, to

make its products. It also makes a lot of profit from its products, and I think it can succeed.
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Reference

COLM. (2022). Strategic Priorities. Columbia Sportswear Company. Retrieved 5 March

2022, from https://investor.columbia.com/company-information/strategic-priorities.

Fern. (2022). Columbia Sportswear SWOT Analysis Matrix [step by step] Weighted SWOT.

Fern Fort University. Retrieved 5 March 2022, from

http://fernfortuniversity.com/term-papers/swot/1433/882-columbia-sportswear.php.

Macrotrends. (2022). Columbia Sportswear Financial Statements 2009-2022 | COLM.

Macrotrends.net. Retrieved 5 March 2022, from

https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/COLM/columbia-sportswear/financial-

statements.

Team, M. (2022). Columbia Sportswear Marketing Strategy & Marketing Mix (4Ps) | MBA

Skool. MBA Skool. Retrieved 5 March 2022, from

https://www.mbaskool.com/marketing-mix/products/17416-columbia-

sportswear.html.

Appendices
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Columbia. (2022). Investor.columbia.com. Retrieved 5 March 2022, from

https://investor.columbia.com/sec-filings/annual-reports/content/0001050797-20-

000012/0001050797-20-000012.pdf.